Can-lifter.



UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIOE.

BEN BUD, OE DULUTH, MINNESOTA.

CAN-LIFTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 16, 1906.

Application filed July 24, 1905. Serial No. 270,957.

' exact description of the invention, such as will enable Others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to can-lifters, and has for its obj ect the provision of means for lifting down cans, books, or other articles from overhead shelves.

It consists Of a lazy-tongs provided with means for grasping cans Or books or other packages and with means for normally holding said tongs open.

It also consists of certain other constructions, combinations, and arrangements of 4parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure- 1 is a perspective view of my said invention. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a modified form of One of the can-grasping fingers thereof.

In the drawings, 1, 2, 3, and 4 are the members or arms Of a lazy-tongs. The members l and 2 are pivoted to each other in any suitable manner and by any suitable means intermediate Of their ends, as at 5, and the members 3 and 4 are pivoted to each other by any suitable means and in any suitable manner intermediate Of their ends, as at 6. One end Of the member or arm 3 is pivoted, as at 7, to one end of the arm l and the corresponding end of the arm 4 is pivoted, as at 8, to the corresponding end of the arm 2. Interposed at any suitable point between two Of said arms is a spacing-spring 9, preferably mounted on a spindle 10,'which spindle is rigidly secured in one of said arms and is directed loosely through a suitable aperture in the opposite arm. Said spring operates to keep said tongs normally open. The free ends of the arms l and 2 are preferably provided with suitable handles, as 1a and 2a.

The free ends Of the arms 3 and 4 are provided with lingers 3a and 4a, extending transversely of said arms and substantially Or approximately parallel to each other. Said fingers may be unfaced or uncovered, but are preferably covered or faced with a comparatively sOft or yielding material, as leather, felt, or rubber, as at 11 in Fig. 2, whereby scratching Or abrasion or slipping of the article to be grasped by said fingers is avoided. In operation, the tongs being Open, said fingers are slipped across and On opposite sides of the can Or book Or package to be lifted and are closed thereon by pressing the handles together against the action of said spring. Said fingers arel preferably bent, as at 3b 3c and 4b and 4C, so that they will be wider apart on One side of the arms 3 and `4 than at the opposite side. Thus the ngers at one side of the arms are adapted to grasp thinner packages than their Opposite ends could grasp.

Having now described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is- A Y 1. The combination of a lazy-tongs and approximately parallel transversely-extending fingers mounted thereon.

2. The combination of a lazy-tongs, trans- .versely-extending fingers mounted thereon and a relatively soft or yielding facing secured to the opposing faces of said fingers.

3. The combination of a lazy-tongs, and transversely extending fingers mounted thereon, said fingers being farther apart on one side of said tongs than On the other side thereof. y

4. The combination Of a lazy-tongs, transversely-extending ngers mounted thereon,

handle portions formed on said tongs and aA spacing-spring mounted on saidl tongs and adapted to keep said tongs normally Open.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

BEN RUD. Witnesses:

JAMES T. WATSON, W. H. SMALLWOOD. 

